Graduates in the spotlight: Summer Commencement ceremonies are Aug. 13

08/02/2011

The University of Akron will confer 1,162 undergraduate and graduate degrees at its Aug. 13 commencement ceremonies, scheduled at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall.

Sonia Midha

Among the students receiving diplomas are Sonia Midha and Alicia Nathaniel, who also have been chosen as student responders.

Midha, who will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony, is graduating with a B.S. in Natural Sciences, summa cum laude. Her day will be made all the more special because she’ll be presented with her diploma by her father, Dr. Chand Midha, dean of the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences.

2011 Summer Commencement

For more about Sonia Midha and Alicia Nathaniel, and all the details on the Aug. 13 commencement ceremonies and activities, visit UA’s Graduation website.

The B.S./M.D. student has known since she volunteered at area hospitals while still in high school that she would have a career in medicine. Then too, she’s had a great role model in her mother, Dr. Sunita Midha, an endocrinologist at Akron General Medical Center and Summa Barberton Hospital.

Alicia Nathaniel

Midha’s next four years will be spent as a student at Northeast Ohio Medical University, of which UA is a partner. After two years in the classroom completing basic sciences coursework, she will start clinical rotations in Akron, Canton and Youngstown hospitals.

Nathaniel, who has earned a B.S. in Accounting, summa cum laude, came to UA as both a nontraditional student and part of the first generation of her family to go to college. She will be sharing her triumph with her younger sister, Angie Bokman, who also will receive a B.S. in Accounting, summa cum laude.

It was after a four-year break following her high school graduation that Nathaniel enrolled at UA and maintained straight As while working full-time and going to school full time.

That routine will continue this fall as Nathaniel returns to campus to earn an M.S. in Accounting, which she will receive in May 2012. Then, she'll begin studying to sit for the Certified Public Accountant exam.